Realms of Adventure: A rules light d20 game

[Meatboy]

Made my own game based on Searchers of the Unknown. It clocks in at a whopping 4 pages. Its free and would love to know what people think. Their are probably mistakes and some things are left undefined on purpose. Enjoy! Realms of Adventure!

EDIT: New link, newest version.

 

[Meatboy]

So the basics of RoA are attack rolls use d20 to hit a target number of 20 you add relevent modifiers to the roll plus the AC of thing being attacked. So the game uses desceding AC which might throw some people off. Every other roll thats needed is done a d6 with a 5+ being a success. Thats it.

Some odd things about the system are distances. Their are no move speeds listed. I just assume in combat that everyone can get where they need to go, unless they can't. I honestly can't remember having tracked exact movement since I ditched battle mats. Same with weapon ranges just use some common sense add -2 to hit if the target is far away or -4 if its really far, or just say "nope. too far." Magic is the only area where I set more defined limits and I need to go back over the spells and rewrite them anyway.

On the subject of spells the ones listed are just some of the more basic or iconic spells I could think of and are by no means the the only spells their are.

I am thinking of adding Kits to the classes because their are so fun to write. Additionally more race and class choices period. I just wanted to get the basics down and see how they work before I started adding too much.

 

[Meatboy]

Need to add my TWF rules.
Carrying a weapon in the off hand +1 damage for a light weapon, +2 damage for one-handed weapons. If the weapon is magical add its modifier to damage as well. +1 damage on critical hits.

Also let me know what you think of my Barbarian class.

Barbarians are wild, powerful and have little regard for "civilized" peoples.
- HD d12 (+3 HP after level)
- +1 to hit per level +1 damage per 2 levels. Extra +1 damage per level when HP is below half. If they deal a killing blow they may attack again and gain a +1 to hit, cumulative for every kill. This ends if they miss.
- +1 to Heroic Feats of prowess, such as forcing doors, bending bars, climbing, swimming and the like.
- Unused to the weakness of civilization. Barbarians apply armor penalties to all rolls.

EDIT: Changed what bonuses are gained by barbarians when they reach half hp, made it a straight damage bonus with no to hit bonus. Added spacing to make it easier to read.

 

[GMMichael]

Looks good at first glance!

I think I'd be checking the rules a lot while playing, just to make sure I was rolling the right die, and achieving success on the right number.

Did I read correctly that a spellcaster has a minimum chance of 1/3 to take 1 damage when casting spells?

 

[Meatboy]

Looks good at first glance!

I think I'd be checking the rules a lot while playing, just to make sure I was rolling the right die, and achieving success on the right number.

Did I read correctly that a spellcaster has a minimum chance of 1/3 to take 1 damage when casting spells?

Yeah its 1/3 per spell level and the damage doesn't heal as normal. The dice thing is actually more complicated to write down than it is to play. Success is usual on a 5 or 6 for something a character is just randomly trying and as written can get up 2-6 for very specific tasks. Its actually pretty close to the spread you get with a d20 if its by the book, bonuses just have to be non existent because they skew results so much.

 

[Meatboy]

I've been thinking about it at work and I am going to define a few terms, ranges and areas of effect, mostly for spells.

Ranges
Melee - Toe to toe
Close - Across the room
Medium - Across the street
Long - Down the block

If a target is outside your range -2 to hit or -4 if its really far.

Areas
Target - 1 object or subject
Small - a table
Medium - a room
Large - a house

And another class, because they are so fun and fast.

Monks are disciplined, athletic, and blindingly quick.
- HD d8
- +1 to hit per level. Unarmed attacks deal 1d6 damage.
- At level 2 if a monk deals damage in melee they can make an extra unarmed attack. Additional attacks at levels 4, 8, 12

etc.
- +1 to damage and initiative and -1 to AC. These improve by 1 at level 3, 6, 9 etc.
- +1 to saves and heroic feats
- A monk loses these benefits if they wear armor or use a shield.

 

[Meatboy]

HERE is the newly edited version of Realms of Adventure. I added the ranges/areas for weapons and spells and edited the spells to reflect this. I also added a reaction table for monsters and a small area dealing with followers and companions. I also tried to edit out any mistakes I could find.

 

[GMMichael]

Ranges
Melee - Toe to toe
Close - Across the room
Medium - Across the street
Long - Down the block

Areas
Target - 1 object or subject
Small - a table
Medium - a room
Large - a house

I went with these ranges in Modos:
Close - held weapons, or about 30 feet.
Short - voice range, or about 60 feet.
Medium - outside melee range, or about 120 feet.
Long - max encounter range, about 240 feet.

Areas:
Single - enemy or point.
Row - enemies who are engaged/bunched up
Conflict - size of a battle/melee
Max - whatever the largest important effect is!

I'll check out those reaction tables when I get a chance!

 

[WbtE]

I quite like it, though you are stretching the definition of "D20 game" with all those d6 rolls. On the first read, my only worry is that the Heroic Feat resolution might be over-used. I'm guessing that you really mean heroic and feats such as climbing a wall with a rope wouldn't need a die roll. That's great! But a sentence or two to spell that out would be a kindness to new players or those coming in from rules-heavy games.

 

[Meatboy]

I quite like it, though you are stretching the definition of "D20 game" with all those d6 rolls. On the first read, my only worry is that the Heroic Feat resolution might be over-used. I'm guessing that you really mean heroic and feats such as climbing a wall with a rope wouldn't need a die roll. That's great! But a sentence or two to spell that out would be a kindness to new players or those coming in from rules-heavy games.

Ha! you fell for my trap. Its not a d20 game per se. The subtitle labels it as "Another way to play minimalist DnD." The game mine is based on actually uses a few more d20 rolls for saves and stunts (Heroic Feats in RoA). I just found the added math for what basically amounts to a pass/fail didn't need to be so complex.

As for the Heroic Feats. Yes I meant for them t be used in place of skills from more mechanically crunchy games. It is supposed to be dead simple, its just up to the DM to read the situation. For example a dwarven thief wishes to use some tools to bypass a lock. Normally a PC, if they have the tools, can do this on a roll of a 5 or 6. Thieves get +1 for Heroic Feats of subterfuge, is this such a feat? Dwarves also get+2 for Feats involving craftsmanship. Again does this apply? Personally I'd say hell yes! But it really depends on the situation.

That is part of the charm of a rules light game but also the down side. These games require a certain amount of trust between players and the DM.

As for your specific example I'd say climbing a rope is not a Heroic Feat it. If you needed to climb the rope and haul your buddies incapacitated butt on your back while holding a sack of gold, that seems more appropriate. Perhaps a line about a Heroic feats are only needed if failing has dire consequences...

Thanks for your feedback. If you ever try it out let me know how it goes.